Saturday Vendors of LA Comic Con

Hosted at the LA Convention Center, fans, cosplayers, and spectators lined up to enter the South Exhibition Hall for the 8th annual LA Comic-Con on Oct. 27. Doors opened at 10:00 a.m., at which point visitors surveyed the booths inside the main hall or viewed the side panels held in conjunction with the main floor events.

Formerly known as Stan Lee’s Comikaze, Los Angeles Comic Con was held at the LA Convention Center from Oct. 26 through Oct. 28. On Saturday Oct. 27, the main hall opened at 10:00 a.m. which allowed attendees to explore the large selection of vendors. From customized notebooks to complete book series, each seller expressed their talent through various mediums.

K. Marie Criddle is among the artistic vendors whose passion is poured into every single piece. The idea to sell notebooks with fictional characters on the cover stemmed from her past when a friend expressed interest in the product. Using watercolor markers and recyclable materials, Criddle makes every character unique by emphasizing certain features or combining colorful elements. Rather than talent, Criddle credits hard work as the reason for her current success.

“This is what I tell people all the time – it’s like, I don’t have a talent for this, I have a passion for it and I practice it like all the time,” Criddle stated. “ So it’s like playing the piano, it’s muscle memory. I know how to draw a face and a body because I’ve practiced drawing faces and bodies so it’s not difficult. It’s really fun to do it; if I’m trying a very challenging thing that I haven’t done before, that’s difficult but it’s still really fun.”

While Criddle differs in her approach to art, Elaine Ho uses her background as a psychology major to create images that provide insight on a character’s emotions. Ho’s pieces vary from original artwork to distinct portrayals of Disney characters. She pulls inspiration from major Renaissance artists such as Michelangelo and Caravaggio to add a dramatic element to her work.

“I tend to try and get into the heads of my characters more than just trying to design cool stuff, so a lot of my stuff pieces center around emotion and trying to convey that feeling rather than that person just standing there looking cool,” Ho said.

Though multiple vendors used art to show their love for pop culture trends, some expressed their admiration through literature. M. Amanuensis Sharkchild is the author of a Lovecraftian horror series called “The Dark Verse”. Each novel features different characters and entities that provide readers a new world to immerse themselves in.

“Really, I want them [the audience] to appreciate,” Sharkchild stated. “I want to create a world for them that they love first of all. And then second of all, I want them to leave it [“The Dark Verse” series] thinking about what they read – whether it’s an unsettled feeling, whether it’s an imaginative feeling or sense of inspiration for someone to create. Somewhere in that realm, something that lingers in your mind, and I say, even with my tagline, ‘These are stories that will follow you into the visions of your sleep.’”

The vendors’ websites can be found on the links below. Los Angeles Comic Con will return on Oct. 11-13 of 2019.

Passionate and outgoing, upcoming journalist Oscar Flores, 12, will follow where the story goes and have his friends and family to guide him. “My friends and family helped me get to where I am today and where I’m going to go,” Flores stated. “The impact I want to make on the world with my writing is what brought me to the art of journalism.”

Throughout our lives, we meet people who leave a lasting impact. They arrive at an unexpected time, but it is always when you are in need of their wisdom.

Oscar Flores is one of the kindest and most talented individuals that I have ever met. His ability to lace emotion and sincerity within every single one of his articles never fails to amaze me. Oscar is not afraid to take risks, in both his writing pieces and in real life. He faces all the obstacles thrown his way with perseverance and a positive outlook, qualities that are rare to find within many people.

I feel very grateful to have a person like Oscar in my life. Having him as a best friend is one of the greatest things to happen to me. Oscar has helped me through many difficult trials in my senior year and I can’t thank him enough for it.

Co-Editor in Chief, Vannesa Carrillo, 12, has been part of Downey High School’s Newspaper, The Downey Legend, for the past 2 years. Carrillo has also been part of the Downey Viking’s girls wrestling team since freshman year and wishes to end her last season off strong. As a dependable soul, she spends every lunch with the special needs students in hopes of pursuing a career in teaching the disabled.

As a frequent aid to those with special needs Carrillo has made it her life mission to help those in need. “I help the students with severe developmental issues,” Carrillo stated. “I help feed them. I read to them. I sing to them and I do arts and crafts with them.”